What do you call a person who sits high in the air for four hours in snow in temperatures that feel like 0 degrees as winds gust to 30 mph?

Eskimo? Daredevil? Idiot?

The answer is: Steelers fans at tonight's game.

The National Weather Service in Moon forecasts that bitter cold will test fans' fortitude and, if careless, their good health. Noses, fingertips and toes definitely will be in jeopardy.

By the 8 p.m. game time, the temperature of 25 degrees will start dropping to 20 by game's end.

Adding freezing insult to ice-cold injury, winds are expected to gust 15 to 30 mph throughout the night, creating a wind-chill factor as low as 0 degrees. Frigid winds could be more punishing than a Joey Porter sack.

National Weather Service meteorologist Lee Hendricks said a 0 degree wind chill can cause frostbite in 30 minutes.

"It will be pretty rough up there," he said. "Unfortunately, if you don't have your body well insulated, you're going to feel very cold very quickly."

The official weather forecast calls for a low-pressure system to sweep through the area late afternoon, with a 50 percent chance of 1 inch of snow by evening and another inch overnight.

"Dress for warmth rather than style," he said. "Make sure you have a warm hat because you lose most of your heat through your head."

The head accounts for 15 percent of body surface, so it's important to keep it warm, said Dr. Lynn K. Wittwer, medical program director for the Clark County Emergency Medical Services in Washington state. He acquired his knowledge of hypothermia by treating frozen elk hunters in the Northwest.

"It's easy to take off layers if you're too warm, but it's hard to warm up if you chill," he said.

Moderation in beer drinking is wise, he said. First, the body must heat up cold beer. Alcohol also causes dehydration, reduces blood pressure and dilates blood vessels, making the skin lose heat. Drunk people get colder faster than sober ones.

"Drugs and alcohol also decrease one's ability to shiver, which is a mechanism to generate heat," Dr. Wittwer said.

Those who drink beer also should drink hot cocoa or coffee to boost hydration and body heat.

"The best answer for everything is to moderate your fun," he said.

Despite the warnings, Dr. Wittwer said he knows what's likely to happen tonight.

"The guys I'm going to be watching are the ones sitting there quite intoxicated with their shirt off and chest painted Pittsburgh colors," he said. "You see those guys on TV, and they always look awfully blue to me. They are the ones at real risk of hypothermia."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06341/744221-66.stm

83-Steelers-43

12-07-2006, 12:33 AM

What do you call a person who sits high in the air for four hours in snow in temperatures that feel like 0 degrees as winds gust to 30 mph?